The « deca » in Monterrey

What's a deca-Ironman? It's a triathlon. Swim + bike + run. But a deca-Ironman is a long one. A very very very long one.
It's the euivalent of swimming accross the Channel (*) followed by more than 1000 miles on a bike (**), and then 10 marathons, that is more than 0,5 million steps (***).

Imagine...

...after a good day swimming (760 laps in a 50m olympic pool), you start cycling. 980 laps on a ring which is barely over one mile. Every 5 minutes you start again, yet another lap. Once this is over, there are still 223 laps to run, on the same track, in the other way.

A few figures :

Swim : 38 km

Bike : 1 800 km

Run : 422 km

World record : 8 days

Time limit : 14 days

Take the Ironman distance, the reference (which is not *that* short), and multiplicate it by ten. This is easy... to calculate.

The classical Hawaï Ironman, is 3,8km, then 180km and finally 42km. Monterrey is just 10 times longer. The « deca » in Monterrey, Mexico, in November is the longuest regular race officially recorded in the calendar of ultra-triathlon races. In 2010, there will even be a "double deca". Same place, same date.

(*) well, not quite. The Channel, the real one, is harder, with cold, waves, tankers, salt, oil and jellyfish. I checked that out.

(**) with the noticeable difference that in races such as the « Tour de France », racers can rest in a comfortable Hotel every night. Not here. In a « deca », the clock is always running, if you sleep, you loose time.

(***) « half » a million. Looks like this is an event for « half » athletes ;)